Federal prosecutors are accusing two Chicago men of conspiring to murder and maim people in Denmark in retaliation for what some Muslims believe were anti-Islamic cartoons published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005.

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"We don't think that an attack has been immediate, but there has been very specific planning in order to facilitate and carry out serious terror attacks in Denmark," said Jakob Scharf of that country's Police Intelligence Service.

David C. Headley was arrested by FBI agents on Oct. 3, just before he could board a plane for Philadelphia, en route to Pakistan,where he allegedly has ties to well-known terrorist organizations, the Chicago Tribune reports.

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Included in the charges is another Chicagoan, Tahawwur Husain Rana. Both are charged with conspiring to murder and maim people in Denmark and providing material support to terrorists overseas.

"We consider this to be a very serious plot ... We're very grateful for the cooperation with the authorities in the United States," Scharf said.

Before being arrested, FBI agents searched Headley's checked luggage and discovered a photocopy of the front page of an Aug. 1, 2009, issue of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, a street guide of Copenhagen, a book title "How to Pray Like a Jew" and a list of telephone numbers.

A flash drive was also found containing videos of the main entrance to the Jyllands-Posten office and a close-up of a guard at the Copenhagen train station.

The Danish newspaper allegedly targeted by Headley was at the center of a controversy after publishing the cartoon "The Face of Muhammed" on Sept. 30, 2005. The depictions were considered offensive and protests broke out in some of the biggest capitals of Muslim countries.

Headley, 49, changed his name from Daood Gilani in 2006. He is the second man arrested in October in what is considered to be a wider terrorist plot aiming to attack specific targets in Denmark.

On Oct. 18, FBI agents from the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs stormed a goat meat-processing plant in Grundy County, owned by Chicago resident known as Tahawar Rana.

Rana, who was arrested the same day as the raid on his First World Management Services plant in Kinsman, northwest of Dwight, financially supported Headley, as well as his family, a source told the Tribune.

FBI agents seized documents and records from Rana's plant, a source familiar with the investigation told the Tribune. Many local residents were not aware the plant was still functioning.